A drug addict burglar who targeted his mother's house twice in 24 hours was given a last chance by a judge.

Sean Richardson was reported to police by his mother after she found her home had been burgled while she was at work, and her television set and Christmas presents stolen.

Richardson, 29, told police that he had sold the property.

Magistrates released him on bail on condition that he kept away from her but within hours a neighbour saw him trying to force his mother's door again and she called the police, said prosecutor Kate Dodds.

Stephen Constantine, defending, told Teesside Crown Court Richardson had spent nearly eight weeks remanded to prison and he had changed by being kept off drugs.

Judge Tony Briggs told Richardson: "You must accept that this is the last chance you are likely to get before you go into custody."

Richardson, of Wharton Terrace, Hartlepool, was remanded on bail for three weeks for assessment for a Drug Treatment and Testing Order after he admitted burgling his mother's home in Sinclair Road, Hartlepool, on December 17 and attempted burglary the next day.